Every two years, white dwarf researchers and enthusiasts meet to exchange their knowledge and discuss recent developments in white dwarf theory and observations. These proceedings are from the 18th European White Dwarf Workshop held at Pedagogical University of Cracow (Krakow, Poland) on 13th - 17th August, 2012.
The scientific topics discussed in this Workshop included: pulsating white dwarfs; luminosity function, mass distribution, and populations; white dwarf structure and evolution; white dwarf catalogs and surveys; central stars of planetary nebulae; supernova progenitors; white dwarfs in novae and cataclysmic variables; white dwarfs in detached binaries; physical processes in white dwarfs and magnetic white dwarfs; and discs, dust and planets around white dwarfs.
The conference was organized by four institutions: the Polish Astronomical Society, the Astronomy Department of the Pedagogical University of Cracow, the Jagiellonian University Astronomical Observatory, and the Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Altogether, these proceedings include 87 talks and posters presented during the meeting.

Abstract:

Peer Reviewed

Materia(s):

Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Física::Astronomia i astrofísicaWhite dwarf starsHigh-field magnetic white dwarfs have been long suspected to be the result of stellar mergers. Howeverthe nature of the coalescing stars and the precise mechanism that produces the magnetic field are still unknown. Here we show that the hotconvectivedifferentially rotating corona present in the outer layers of the remnant of the merger of two degenerate cores is able to produce magnetic fields of the required strength that do not decay for long timescales. We also showusing an state-of-the-art Monte Carlo simulatorthat the expected number of high-field magnetic white dwarfs produced in this way is consistent with that found in the solar neighborhood.Estels nans